The University of Wollongong has come under fire from members of the medical profession over a thesis claiming collusion between the World Health Organisation and the pharmaceutical industry.

The thesis by anti vaccination activist Dr Judy Wilyman claims the 2009 swine flu pandemic was declared by a secret WHO committee, with ties to drug companies that stood to make big profits from the outbreak of the disease.

Dr Wilyman undertook a social-science based thesis entitled 'A critical examination of the Australian government's rationale for its vaccination policy' in the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts.

Doctors and members of the public are now calling the paper by her "conspiracy theory" and have taken to social media to criticise the university for lacking academic rigour.

The University has defended its acceptance of the thesis late last year, saying while it does not endorse the views of its academics or students, it does support researchers' academic freedom of thought and expression.

In a statement, it says all theses are assessed by at least two examiners with unchallengeable knowledge in the field of study.

But the university has declined to reveal who the examiners of Ms Wilyman's thesis were and whether they were from the field of medicine or social science.